[Edu-sig] Confused how teach geometry and importance of teaching geometry in 21st century.

[Litvin]

At 10:40 PM 3/25/2010, you wrote:
>I'm teaching high school math to homeschoolers and I'm looking for how to make
>geometry year meaningful.
>
>I'm having a "crisis of confidence" because from my viewpoint, algebra was 10x
>more useful for future math and science work.

The fact that geometry is considered a place to teach formal reasoning (and 
not much more) is peculiar to the math standards in this 
country.  Properties of congruent triangles and other trivial stuff can be 
dispatched with rather quickly (by the end of 6th grade in many 
countries).   I think after that, geometry, more than any other elementary 
math subject, offers opportunities for creative problem solving.  It also 
teaches transformations and symmetry, invariants (loci of points), creative 
straightedge and compass constructions, right triangle trigonometry, 
spacial reasoning, etc.  For a creative exploration approach consider 
http://books.google.com/books?id=tDRJi-qlE18C&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22lines+and+curves%22&source=bl&ots=xPHqn0h_fk&sig=5Ve-5_pEsafkCAcRlDUfYvZFiOU&hl=en&ei=xNCsS6CLKMiVtgfb3KmrDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false.

Gary Litvin
www.skylit.com